Photos: Rescuers Race Against Time as Turkey-Syria Quake Deaths Cross 11,000

Rescuers race against time to save people trapped under the rubble of thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria.

Emergency workers and medics rescue a woman out of the debris of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Kahramanmaras, in southern Turkey.

(Photo: PTI)

Video Input: Uğur Güler

Video Producer: Shohini Bose

Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar 

Death Toll: The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria has killed at least 11,000 people, according to official data, as rescuers race against time to save people trapped under the rubble of thousands of buildings in the two countries. The earthquake occurred at 04:17 local time (06:47 IST) at a depth of 17.9 kilometres near the city of Gaziantep, as per the US Geological Survey. Another strong tremor of magnitude 7.5 shook the region in the afternoon, besides dozens of aftershocks since then.

At least 8,574 people have been killed in Turkey alone, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The death toll continues to rise as more bodies are recovered from the rubble.

In Syria, the death toll in government-held areas climbed to 1,250 while at least 1,280 people have died in the rebel-held northwest, according to data provided by the Health Ministry and civil defence group White Helmets, respectively.

Thousands Injured: In Turkey, authorities said at least 37,000 have been injured. Over 4,600 are reported to have been injured in Syria.

Death Toll Expected To Rise: The death toll is expected to rise further amid large-scale rescue operations in both countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the number of dead could rise to more than 20,000 in the coming days. “There’s continued potential of further collapses to happen so we do often see in the order of eightfold increases on the initial numbers,” Catherine Smallwood, the World Health Organization’s senior emergency officer for Europe, told AFP.

"It's now a race against time. Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes," World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva.

Millions Affected: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 13 million of the country’s 85 million people were affected. AP reported that more than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Turkey, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels.

Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces. Turkey now has some 60,000 aid personnel in the quake-hit zone, but with the devastation so widespread many are still waiting for help.

In Syria, which is yet to recover from 12-year-old civil war, the earthquake as compounded the struggles of the residents. The conflict which has divided the nation into two – government-controlled areas and rebel-held northwest – has made the rescue efforts much more complicated. The sanctions imposed on Syria in light of President Bashar al-Assad's rule has made it difficult for international aid to reach the country.

Operation Dost: India has provided humanitarian assistance to Turkey under Operation Dost. Four C-17 planeloads of relief material, equipment and personnel, weighing over 108 tons, have reached Turkey.

Assistance to Turkey Includes:

Self-contained search and rescue units: Over 100 NDRF personnel, with equipment, vehicles and dog squads.

Equipment: Hand and power tools, lighting equipment, air-lifting bags, chainsaw, angle cutters, rotary rescue saw, victim location equipment, life detectors, etc.

Dog squads: Help locate victim in rubble I and collapsed structures.

Their specialised equipment and training will help for detection, location, access and extrication and to conduct collapsed structure search and rescue (CSSR) operations.

99 medical specialists: To set up a 30-bed medical facility in field operation conditions.

Medical equipment: includes x-ray machines, ventilators, operation-theater, vehicles, ambulances, generators, etc.

Medical teams have specialised training for treating the rescued.

India’s Help to Syria: Over 6 tons of emergency relief assistance reaches Syria. Received at the Damascus airport by Deputy Minister of Local Administration & Environment Moutaz Douaji. Includes 3 truck-loads of protective gear, emergency use medicines, ECG machines and other medical items.

People and emergency teams search for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaziantep, Turkey.

A police officer stands next to a destroyed building as he searches with emergency teams for people in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Emergency teams search for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Adana, southern Turkey.

Two men carry a body from a destroyed building in Adana, southern Turkey.

A woman cries in Iskenderun town, southern Turkey, Tuesday. 

Emergency team members search for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey. 

During the rescue of a family from under the rubble yesterday, Tuesday, February 7, in the village of Bisnia, west of Idlib in Syria. 

White Helmets volunteers rescue a girl alive from under the rubble of her house in Jenderes, north of Aleppo in Syria.